Mabee ’Cap dropped to Grade II status in 2010

Nearly three months after the end of the annual summer meeting there’s Del Mar-related news, albeit none of it the kind that will brighten the holiday season for officials or fans of the seaside track.

On Thursday, the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association announced its list for 2010, the product of its annual meeting in Lexington, Ky. And the John C. Mabee Handicap was among five races across the country downgraded from Grade I to Grade II status.

Formerly the Ramona, the 1 1/8-mile grass race for older fillies and mares was renamed for the patriarch of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in 2003, one year after his death. The Mabee loses its Grade I status one year after the Clement L. Hirsch, a counterpart for older females on the main track named for another DMTC founding father, was elevated from Grade II to Grade I.

The committee giveth, and the committee taketh away. And Del Mar racing secretary Tim Robbins is one of the 11 members — five racing secretaries and five owner/breeders on the committee.

The committee takes a look at stakes races around the country, judges them based on a set of criteria and makes adjustments to the list as it sees fit.

“The (Mabee), in recent years, hasn’t had a large number of Grade I winners (in the fields),” Robbins said. “That’s one of the things we look at for a Grade I, how many Grade I winners has it attracted. We’ve been looking at it for the past few years and it ranked in the lower Grade I, upper Grade II range (for quality of field).”

The Mabee and Hirsch were considered viable options for Zenyatta the past two years, but the mare’s connections chose the latter race and the synthetic surface over testing her on grass, a surface they never tried with her.

The only other grading committee action regarding Del Mar was to upgrade the Cougar II Handicap from ungraded to Grade III status. Who knew that the “Miss Cougar” promotion inaugurated this year in conjunction with the race would have such an immediate positive impact?

Classic stands alone

The recent announcement of the reduction of the purse for the Santa Anita Handicap from $1 million to $750,000 leaves the Pacific Classic as the only seven-figure purse race on the Southern California circuit, the Hollywood Gold Cup having lost that status several years ago.

DMTC President and CEO Joe Harper called the Santa Anita decision a product of the business and overall economic times, and another wake-up call to the industry. Could something similar happen to the Pacific Classic?

“I certainly hope not,” Harper said. “But like all tracks, our purse money is directly related to handle, and if the bottom falls out you’ve got to make adjustments.

“We had to reduce purses a couple years ago, but we were fortunate that this year, business was good.”

Case continued

On Thursday, Hollywood Park stewards denied a request to dismiss a case alleging that Del Mar’s leading jockey, Joel Rosario, “did not put forth his best effort riding his horse to the finish line” on Cedros in the 11th race at Del Mar on Sunday, Sept. 6.